Cationic metal-carbene complexes

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to organic light emitting devices (OLEDs), and more specifically to phosphorescent organic materials used in such devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to emissive phosphorescent material comprising a carbene ligand bound to a metal center, wherein the resulting metal-carbene complex is cationic.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/880,384, filed Jun. 28, 2004, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/849,301, filed May 18, 2004, each of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

The claimed invention was made by, on behalf of, and/or in connection with one or more of the following parties to a joint university-corporation research agreement: Princeton University, The University of Southern California, and Universal Display Corporation. The agreement was in effect on and before the date the claimed invention was made, and the claimed invention was made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of the agreement.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to organic light emitting devices (OLEDs), and more specifically to phosphorescent organic materials used in such devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to emissive phosphorescent material comprising a carbene ligand bound to a metal center, wherein the resulting metal-carbene complex is cationic.

BACKGROUND

Opto-electronic devices that make use of organic materials are becoming increasingly desirable for a number of reasons. Many of the materials used to make such devices are relatively inexpensive, so organic opto-electronic devices have the potential for cost advantages over inorganic devices. In addition, the inherent properties of organic materials, such as their flexibility, may make them well suited for particular applications such as fabrication on a flexible substrate. Examples of organic opto-electronic devices include organic light emitting devices (OLEDs), organic phototransistors, organic photovoltaic cells, and organic photodetectors. For OLEDs, the organic materials may have performance advantages over conventional materials. For example, the wavelength at which an organic emissive layer emits light may generally be readily tuned with appropriate dopants.

As used herein, the term “organic” includes polymeric materials as well as small molecule organic materials that may be used to fabricate organic opto-electronic devices. “Small molecule” refers to any organic material that is not a polymer, and “small molecules” may actually be quite large. Small molecules may include repeat units in some circumstances. For example, using a long chain alkyl group as a substituent does not remove a molecule from the “small molecule” class. Small molecules may also be incorporated into polymers, for example as a pendent group on a polymer backbone or as a part of the backbone. Small molecules may also serve as the core moiety of a dendrimer, which consists of a series of chemical shells built on the core moiety. The core moiety of a dendrimer may be a fluorescent or phosphorescent small molecule emitter. A dendrimer may be a “small molecule,” and it is believed that all dendrimers currently used in the field of OLEDs are small molecules. In general, a small molecule has a well-defined chemical formula with a single molecular weight, whereas a polymer has a chemical formula and a molecular weight that may vary from molecule to molecule.

OLEDs make use of thin organic films that emit light when voltage is applied across the device. OLEDs are becoming an increasingly interesting technology for use in applications such as flat panel displays, illumination, and backlighting. Several OLED materials and configurations are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,844,363, 6,303,238, and 5,707,745, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

OLED devices are generally (but not always) intended to emit light through at least one of the electrodes, and one or more transparent electrodes may be useful in organic opto-electronic devices. For example, a transparent electrode material, such as indium tin oxide (ITO), may be used as the bottom electrode. A transparent top electrode, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,703,436 and 5,707,745, which are incorporated by reference in their entireties, may also be used. For a device intended to emit light only through the bottom electrode, the top electrode does not need to be transparent, and may be comprised of a thick and reflective metal layer having a high electrical conductivity. Similarly, for a device intended to emit light only through the top electrode, the bottom electrode may be opaque and/or reflective. Where an electrode does not need to be transparent, using a thicker layer may provide better conductivity, and using a reflective electrode may increase the amount of light emitted through the other electrode, by reflecting light back towards the transparent electrode. Fully transparent devices may also be fabricated, where both electrodes are transparent. Side emitting OLEDs may also be fabricated, and one or both electrodes may be opaque or reflective in such devices.

As used herein, “top” means furthest away from the substrate, while “bottom” means closest to the substrate. For example, for a device having two electrodes, the bottom electrode is the electrode closest to the substrate, and is generally the first electrode fabricated. The bottom electrode has two surfaces, a bottom surface closest to the substrate, and a top surface further away from the substrate. Where a first layer is described as “disposed over” a second layer, the first layer is disposed further away from substrate. There may be other layers between the first and second layer, unless it is specified that the first layer is “in physical contact with” the second layer. For example, a cathode may be described as “disposed over” an anode, even though there are various organic layers in between.

As used herein, “solution processible” means capable of being dissolved, dispersed, or transported in and/or deposited from a liquid medium, either in solution or suspension form.

As used herein, and as would be generally understood by one skilled in the art, a first “Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital” (HOMO) or “Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital” (LUMO) energy level is “greater than” or “higher than” a second HOMO or LUMO energy level if the first energy level is closer to the vacuum energy level. Since ionization potentials (IP) are measured as a negative energy relative to a vacuum level, a higher HOMO energy level corresponds to an IP having a smaller absolute value (an IP that is less negative). Similarly, a higher LUMO energy level corresponds to an electron affinity (EA) having a smaller absolute value (an EA that is less negative). On a conventional energy level diagram, with the vacuum level at the top, the LUMO energy level of a material is higher than the HOMO energy level of the same material. A “higher” HOMO or LUMO energy level appears closer to the top of such a diagram than a “lower” HOMO or LUMO energy level.

The carbene ligand has been well known in organometallic chemistry, and is used to generate a wide range of thermally stable catalytic materials. The carbene ligands have been employed both as active groups, directly engaged in the catalytic reactions, and serving a role of stabilizing the metal in a particular oxidation state or coordination geometry. However, applications of carbene ligands are not well known in photochemistry and have yet to be used as electroluminescent compounds.

One issue with many of the existing organic electroluminescent compounds is that they are not sufficiently stable for use in commercial devices. This has been particularly true of phosphorescent emissive materials that emit in the blue portion of the spectra. An object of the invention is to provide a class of organic emissive compounds having improved stability. An object of the invention is to provide a class of organic emissive compounds that can emit light with various spectra, including high energy spectra such as blue, in a stable manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a device having an organic layer comprising a carbene ligand bound to a metal center, wherein the resulting metal-carbene complex is cationic. In a preferred embodiment, the cationic metal-carbene complex is a phosphorescent emissive material, preferably a dopant. The metal center is selected from the transition metals and is preferably selected from the second row and third row transition metals. The cationic metal-carbene complex may additionally contain ancillary ligands in order to fill the coordination sphere of the metal center.

In preferred embodiments, the invention is directed to an organic light emitting device comprising an anode, a cathode, and a emissive region disposed between the anode and the cathode, wherein the emissive region comprises an emissive complex that further comprises one or more carbene ligands coordinated to a metal center, wherein the complex is cationic.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an organic light emitting device having separate electron transport, hole transport, and emissive layers, as well as other layers.

FIG. 2 shows an inverted organic light emitting device that does not have a separate electron transport layer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is directed to a device having an organic layer comprising a carbene ligand bound to a metal center, wherein the resulting metal-carbene complex is cationic. Metal-carbene complexes offer tremendous versatility in the design of phosphorescent emissive compounds, allowing the emission wavelength to be tuned from ultraviolet to red, and also allowing for the introduction of substituents to tune the ease of oxidation and reduction, the steric bulk, dipole moment, and other important features. Cationic complexes represent an important subset of such compounds with several advantageous features. The presence of an overall charge tends to increase the ligand field spitting and blue-shift the emission, and provides an additional way to tune the oxidation and reduction potentials of the material. In addition the cationic complexes can be ion-pared with polyanions to provide additional options for processing and localization within the device.

Generally, an OLED comprises at least one organic layer disposed between and electrically connected to an anode and a cathode. When a current is applied, the anode injects holes and the cathode injects electrons into the organic layer(s). The injected holes and electrons each migrate toward the oppositely charged electrode. When an electron and hole localize on the same molecule, an “exciton,” which is a localized electron-hole pair having an excited energy state, is formed. Light is emitted when the exciton relaxes via a photoemissive mechanism. In some cases, the exciton may be localized on an excimer or an exciplex. Non-radiative mechanisms, such as thermal relaxation, may also occur, but are generally considered undesirable.

The initial OLEDs used emissive molecules that emitted light from their singlet states (“fluorescence”) as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,292, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. Fluorescent emission generally occurs in a time frame of less than 10 nanoseconds.

More recently, OLEDs having emissive materials that emit light from triplet states (“phosphorescence”) have been demonstrated. Baldo et al., “Highly Efficient Phosphorescent Emission from Organic Electroluminescent Devices,” Nature, vol. 395, 151-154, 1998; (“Baldo-I”) and Baldo et al., “Very high-efficiency green organic light-emitting devices based on electrophosphorescence,” Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 75, No. 3, 4-6 (1999) (“Baldo-II”), which are incorporated by reference in their entireties. Phosphorescence may be referred to as a “forbidden” transition because the transition requires a change in spin states, and quantum mechanics indicates that such a transition is not favored. As a result, phosphorescence generally occurs in a time frame exceeding at least 10 nanoseconds, and typically greater than 100 nanoseconds. If the natural radiative lifetime of phosphorescence is too long, triplets may decay by a non-radiative mechanism, such that no light is emitted. Organic phosphorescence is also often observed in molecules containing heteroatoms with unshared pairs of electrons at very low temperatures. 2,2′-bipyridine is such a molecule. Non-radiative decay mechanisms are typically temperature dependent, such that an organic material that exhibits phosphorescence at liquid nitrogen temperatures typically does not exhibit phosphorescence at room temperature. But, as demonstrated by Baldo, this problem may be addressed by selecting phosphorescent compounds that do phosphoresce at room temperature. Representative emissive layers include doped or un-doped phosphorescent organometallic materials such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,303,238 and 6,310,360; U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2002-0034656; 2002-0182441; 2003-0072964; and WO-02/074015.

Generally, the excitons in an OLED are believed to be created in a ratio of about 3:1, i.e., approximately 75% triplets and 25% singlets. See, Adachi et al., “Nearly 100% Internal Phosphorescent Efficiency In An Organic Light Emitting Device,” J. Appl. Phys., 90, 5048 (2001), which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. In many cases, singlet excitons may readily transfer their energy to triplet excited states via “intersystem crossing,” whereas triplet excitons may not readily transfer their energy to singlet excited states. As a result, 100% internal quantum efficiency is theoretically possible with phosphorescent OLEDs. In a fluorescent device, the energy of triplet excitons is generally lost to radiationless decay processes that heat-up the device, resulting in much lower internal quantum efficiencies. OLEDs utilizing phosphorescent materials that emit from triplet excited states are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,303,238, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Phosphorescence may be preceded by a transition from a triplet excited state to an intermediate non-triplet state from which the emissive decay occurs. For example, organic molecules coordinated to lanthanide elements often phosphoresce from excited states localized on the lanthanide metal. However, such materials do not phosphoresce directly from a triplet excited state but instead emit from an atomic excited state centered on the lanthanide metal ion. The europium diketonate complexes illustrate one group of these types of species.

Phosphorescence from triplets can be enhanced over fluorescence by confining, preferably through bonding, the organic molecule in close proximity to an atom of high atomic number. This phenomenon, called the heavy atom effect, is created by a mechanism known as spin-orbit coupling. Such a phosphorescent transition may be observed from an excited metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) state of an organometallic molecule such as tris(2-phenylpyridine)iridium(III).

As used herein, the term “triplet energy” refers to an energy corresponding to the highest energy feature discernable in the phosphorescence spectrum of a given material. The highest energy feature is not necessarily the peak having the greatest intensity in the phosphorescence spectrum, and could, for example, be a local maximum of a clear shoulder on the high energy side of such a peak.

The term “organometallic” as used herein is as generally understood by one of ordinary skill in the art and as given, for example, in “Inorganic Chemistry” (2nd Edition) by Gary L. Miessler and Donald A. Tarr, Prentice Hall (1998). Thus, the term organometallic refers to compounds which have an organic group bonded to a metal through a carbon-metal bond. This class does not include per se coordination compounds, which are substances having only donor bonds from heteroatoms, such as metal complexes of amines, halides, pseudohalides (CN, etc.), and the like. In practice organometallic compounds generally comprise, in addition to one or more carbon-metal bonds to an organic species, one or more donor bonds from a heteroatom. The carbon-metal bond to an organic species refers to a direct bond between a metal and a carbon atom of an organic group, such as phenyl, alkyl, alkenyl, etc., but does not refer to a metal bond to an “inorganic carbon,” such as the carbon of CN or CO.

FIG. 1 shows an organic light emitting device 100. The figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. Device 100 may include a substrate 110, an anode 115, a hole injection layer 120, a hole transport layer 125, an electron blocking layer 130, an emissive layer 135, a hole blocking layer 140, an electron transport layer 145, an electron injection layer 150, a protective layer 155, and a cathode 160. Cathode 160 is a compound cathode having a first conductive layer 162 and a second conductive layer 164. Device 100 may be fabricated by depositing the layers described, in order.

Substrate 110 may be any suitable substrate that provides desired structural properties. Substrate 110 may be flexible or rigid. Substrate 110 may be transparent, translucent or opaque. Plastic and glass are examples of preferred rigid substrate materials. Plastic and metal foils are examples of preferred flexible substrate materials. Substrate 110 may be a semiconductor material in order to facilitate the fabrication of circuitry. For example, substrate 110 may be a silicon wafer upon which circuits are fabricated, capable of controlling OLEDs subsequently deposited on the substrate. Other substrates may be used. The material and thickness of substrate 110 may be chosen to obtain desired structural and optical properties.

Anode 115 may be any suitable anode that is sufficiently conductive to transport holes to the organic layers. The material of anode 115 preferably has a work function higher than about 4 eV (a “high work function material”). Preferred anode materials include conductive metal oxides, such as indium tin oxide (ITO) and indium zinc oxide (IZO), aluminum zinc oxide (AlZnO), and metals. Anode 115 (and substrate 110) may be sufficiently transparent to create a bottom-emitting device. A preferred transparent substrate and anode combination is commercially available ITO (anode) deposited on glass or plastic (substrate). A flexible and transparent substrate-anode combination is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,844,363 and 6,602,540 B2, which are incorporated by reference in their entireties. Anode 115 may be opaque and/or reflective. A reflective anode 115 may be preferred for some top-emitting devices, to increase the amount of light emitted from the top of the device. The material and thickness of anode 115 may be chosen to obtain desired conductive and optical properties. Where anode 115 is transparent, there may be a range of thickness for a particular material that is thick enough to provide the desired conductivity, yet thin enough to provide the desired degree of transparency. Other anode materials and structures may be used.

Hole transport layer 125 may include a material capable of transporting holes. Hole transport layer 130 may be intrinsic (undoped), or doped. Doping may be used to enhance conductivity. α-NPD and TPD are examples of intrinsic hole transport layers. An example of a p-doped hole transport layer is m-MTDATA doped with F₄-TCNQ at a molar ratio of 50:1, as disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002-0071963 A1 to Forrest et al., which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. Other hole transport layers may be used.

Emissive layer 135 may include an organic material capable of emitting light when a current is passed between anode 115 and cathode 160. Preferably, emissive layer 135 contains a phosphorescent emissive material, although fluorescent emissive materials may also be used. Phosphorescent materials are preferred because of the higher luminescent efficiencies associated with such materials. Emissive layer 135 may also comprise a host material which may be capable of transporting electrons and/or holes, doped with an emissive material that may trap electrons, holes, and/or excitons, such that excitons relax from the emissive material via a photoemissive mechanism. Emissive layer 135 may comprise a single material that combines transport and emissive properties. Whether the emissive material is a dopant or a major constituent, emissive layer 135 may comprise other materials, such as dopants that tune the emission of the emissive material. Emissive layer 135 may include a plurality of emissive materials capable of, in combination, emitting a desired spectrum of light. Examples of phosphorescent emissive materials include Ir(ppy)₃. Examples of fluorescent emissive materials include DCM and DMQA. Examples of host materials include Alq₃, CBP and mCP. Examples of emissive and host materials are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,303,238 to Thompson et al., and U.S. Application Publication No. US-2004-0209116 A1, each of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. Emissive material may be included in emissive layer 135 in a number of ways. For example, an emissive small molecule may be incorporated into a polymer. This may be accomplished by several ways: by doping the small molecule into the polymer either as a separate and distinct molecular species; or by incorporating the small molecule into the backbone of the polymer, so as to form a co-polymer; or by bonding the small molecule as a pendant group on the polymer. Other emissive layer materials and structures may be used. For example, a small molecule emissive material may be present as the core of a dendrimer.

Many useful emissive materials include one or more ligands bound to a metal center. A ligand may be referred to as “photoactive” if it contributes directly to the photoactive properties of an organometallic emissive material. A “photoactive” ligand may provide, in conjunction with a metal, the energy levels from which and to which an electron moves when a photon is emitted. Other ligands may be referred to as “ancillary.” Ancillary ligands may modify the photoactive properties of the molecule, for example by shifting the energy levels of a photoactive ligand, but ancillary ligands do not directly provide the energy levels involved in light emission. A ligand that is photoactive in one molecule may be ancillary in another. These definitions of photoactive and ancillary are intended as non-limiting theories.

Electron transport layer 145 may include a material capable of transporting electrons. Electron transport layer 145 may be intrinsic (undoped), or doped. Doping may be used to enhance conductivity. Alq₃ is an example of an intrinsic electron transport layer. An example of an n-doped electron transport layer is BPhen doped with Li at a molar ratio of 1:1, as disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002-0071963 A1 to Forrest et al., which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. Other electron transport layers may be used.

The charge carrying component of the electron transport layer may be selected such that electrons can be efficiently injected from the cathode into the LUMO (Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital) energy level of the electron transport layer. The “charge carrying component” is the material responsible for the LUMO energy level that actually transports electrons. This component may be the base material, or it may be a dopant. The LUMO energy level of an organic material may be generally characterized by the electron affinity of that material and the relative electron injection efficiency of a cathode may be generally characterized in terms of the work function of the cathode material. This means that the preferred properties of an electron transport layer and the adjacent cathode may be specified in terms of the electron affinity of the charge carrying component of the ETL and the work function of the cathode material. In particular, so as to achieve high electron injection efficiency, the work function of the cathode material is preferably not greater than the electron affinity of the charge carrying component of the electron transport layer by more than about 0.75 eV, more preferably, by not more than about 0.5 eV. Similar considerations apply to any layer into which electrons are being injected.

Cathode 160 may be any suitable material or combination of materials known to the art, such that cathode 160 is capable of conducting electrons and injecting them into the organic layers of device 100. Cathode 160 may be transparent or opaque, and may be reflective. Metals and metal oxides are examples of suitable cathode materials. Cathode 160 may be a single layer, or may have a compound structure. FIG. 1 shows a compound cathode 160 having a thin metal layer 162 and a thicker conductive metal oxide layer 164. In a compound cathode, preferred materials for the thicker layer 164 include ITO, IZO, and other materials known to the art. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,703,436, 5,707,745, 6,548,956 B2 and 6,576,134 B2, which are incorporated by reference in their entireties, disclose examples of cathodes including compound cathodes having a thin layer of metal such as Mg:Ag with an overlying transparent, electrically-conductive, sputter-deposited ITO layer. The part of cathode 160 that is in contact with the underlying organic layer, whether it is a single layer cathode 160, the thin metal layer 162 of a compound cathode, or some other part, is preferably made of a material having a work function lower than about 4 eV (a “low work function material”). Other cathode materials and structures may be used.

Blocking layers may be used to reduce the number of charge carriers (electrons or holes) and/or excitons that leave the emissive layer. An electron blocking layer 130 may be disposed between emissive layer 135 and the hole transport layer 125, to block electrons from leaving emissive layer 135 in the direction of hole transport layer 125. Similarly, a hole blocking layer 140 may be disposed between emissive layer 135 and electron transport layer 145, to block holes from leaving emissive layer 135 in the direction of electron transport layer 145. Blocking layers may also be used to block excitons from diffusing out of the emissive layer. The theory and use of blocking layers is described in more detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,147 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002-0071963 A1 to Forrest et al., which are incorporated by reference in their entireties.

As used herein, and as would be understood by one skilled in the art, the term “blocking layer” means that the layer provides a barrier that significantly inhibits transport of charge carriers and/or excitons through the device, without suggesting that the layer necessarily completely blocks the charge carriers and/or excitons. The presence of such a blocking layer in a device may result in substantially higher efficiencies as compared to a similar device lacking a blocking layer. Also, a blocking layer may be used to confine emission to a desired region of an OLED.

Generally, injection layers are comprised of a material that may improve the injection of charge carriers from one layer, such as an electrode or an organic layer, into an adjacent organic layer. Injection layers may also perform a charge transport function. In device 100, hole injection layer 120 may be any layer that improves the injection of holes from anode 115 into hole transport layer 125. CuPc is an example of a material that may be used as a hole injection layer from an ITO anode 115, and other anodes. In device 100, electron injection layer 150 may be any layer that improves the injection of electrons into electron transport layer 145. LiF/Al is an example of a material that may be used as an electron injection layer into an electron transport layer from an adjacent layer. Other materials or combinations of materials may be used for injection layers. Depending upon the configuration of a particular device, injection layers may be disposed at locations different than those shown in device 100. More examples of injection layers are provided in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/931,948 to Lu et al., which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. A hole injection layer may comprise a solution deposited material, such as a spin-coated polymer, e.g., PEDOT:PSS, or it may be a vapor deposited small molecule material, e.g., CuPc or MTDATA.

A hole injection layer (HIL) may planarize or wet the anode surface so as to provide efficient hole injection from the anode into the hole injecting material. A hole injection layer may also have a charge carrying component having HOMO (Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital) energy levels that favorably match up, as defined by their herein-described relative ionization potential (IP) energies, with the adjacent anode layer on one side of the HIL and the hole transporting layer on the opposite side of the HIL. The “charge carrying component” is the material responsible for the HOMO energy level that actually transports holes. This component may be the base material of the HIL, or it may be a dopant. Using a doped HIL allows the dopant to be selected for its electrical properties, and the host to be selected for morphological properties such as wetting, flexibility, toughness, etc. Preferred properties for the HIL material are such that holes can be efficiently injected from the anode into the HIL material. In particular, the charge carrying component of the HIL preferably has an IP not more than about 0.7 eV greater that the IP of the anode material. More preferably, the charge carrying component has an IP not more than about 0.5 eV greater than the anode material. Similar considerations apply to any layer into which holes are being injected. HIL materials are further distinguished from conventional hole transporting materials that are typically used in the hole transporting layer of an OLED in that such HIL materials may have a hole conductivity that is substantially less than the hole conductivity of conventional hole transporting materials. The thickness of the HIL of the present invention may be thick enough to help planarize or wet the surface of the anode layer. For example, an HIL thickness of as little as 10 nm may be acceptable for a very smooth anode surface. However, since anode surfaces tend to be very rough, a thickness for the HIL of up to 50 nm may be desired in some cases.

A protective layer may be used to protect underlying layers during subsequent fabrication processes. For example, the processes used to fabricate metal or metal oxide top electrodes may damage organic layers, and a protective layer may be used to reduce or eliminate such damage. In device 100, protective layer 155 may reduce damage to underlying organic layers during the fabrication of cathode 160. Preferably, a protective layer has a high carrier mobility for the type of carrier that it transports (electrons in device 100), such that it does not significantly increase the operating voltage of device 100. CuPc, BCP, and various metal phthalocyanines are examples of materials that may be used in protective layers. Other materials or combinations of materials may be used. The thickness of protective layer 155 is preferably thick enough that there is little or no damage to underlying layers due to fabrication processes that occur after organic protective layer 160 is deposited, yet not so thick as to significantly increase the operating voltage of device 100. Protective layer 155 may be doped to increase its conductivity. For example, a CuPc or BCP protective layer 160 may be doped with Li. A more detailed description of protective layers may be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/931,948 to Lu et al., which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIG. 2 shows an inverted OLED 200. The device includes a substrate 210, an cathode 215, an emissive layer 220, a hole transport layer 225, and an anode 230. Device 200 may be fabricated by depositing the layers described, in order. Because the most common OLED configuration has a cathode disposed over the anode, and device 200 has cathode 215 disposed under anode 230, device 200 may be referred to as an “inverted” OLED. Materials similar to those described with respect to device 100 may be used in the corresponding layers of device 200. FIG. 2 provides one example of how some layers may be omitted from the structure of device 100.

The simple layered structure illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is provided by way of non-limiting example, and it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be used in connection with a wide variety of other structures. The specific materials and structures described are exemplary in nature, and other materials and structures may be used. Functional OLEDs may be achieved by combining the various layers described in different ways, or layers may be omitted entirely, based on design, performance, and cost factors. Other layers not specifically described may also be included. Materials other than those specifically described may be used. Although many of the examples provided herein describe various layers as comprising a single material, it is understood that combinations of materials, such as a mixture of host and dopant, or more generally a mixture, may be used. Also, the layers may have various sublayers. The names given to the various layers herein are not intended to be strictly limiting. For example, in device 200, hole transport layer 225 transports holes and injects holes into emissive layer 220, and may be described as a hole transport layer or a hole injection layer. In one embodiment, an OLED may be described as having an “organic layer” disposed between a cathode and an anode. This organic layer may comprise a single layer, or may further comprise multiple layers of different organic materials as described, for example, with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2.

Structures and materials not specifically described may also be used, such as OLEDs comprised of polymeric materials (PLEDs) such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,190, Friend et al., which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. By way of further example, OLEDs having a single organic layer may be used. OLEDs may be stacked, for example as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,745 to Forrest et al, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. The OLED structure may deviate from the simple layered structure illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. For example, the substrate may include an angled reflective surface to improve out-coupling, such as a mesa structure as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,195 to Forrest et al., and/or a pit structure as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,893 to Bulovic et al., which are incorporated by reference in their entireties.

Unless otherwise specified, any of the layers of the various embodiments may be deposited by any suitable method. For the organic layers, preferred methods include thermal evaporation, ink-jet, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,013,982 and 6,087,196, which are incorporated by reference in their entireties, organic vapor phase deposition (OVPD), such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,337,102 to Forrest et al., which is incorporated by reference in its entirety, and deposition by organic vapor jet printing (OVJP), such as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/233,470, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. Other suitable deposition methods include spin coating and other solution based processes. Solution based processes are preferably carried out in nitrogen or an inert atmosphere. For the other layers, preferred methods include thermal evaporation. Preferred patterning methods include deposition through a mask, cold welding such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,294,398 and 6,468,819, which are incorporated by reference in their entireties, and patterning associated with some of the deposition methods such as ink-jet and OVJD. Other methods may also be used. The materials to be deposited may be modified to make them compatible with a particular deposition method. For example, substituents such as alkyl and aryl groups, branched or unbranched, and preferably containing at least 3 carbons, may be used in small molecules to enhance their ability to undergo solution processing. Substituents having 20 carbons or more may be used, and 3-20 carbons is a preferred range. Materials with asymmetric structures may have better solution processibility than those having symmetric structures, because asymmetric materials may have a lower tendency to recrystallize. Dendrimer substituents may be used to enhance the ability of small molecules to undergo solution processing.

The molecules disclosed herein may be substituted in a number of different ways without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, substituents may be added to a compound having three bidentate ligands, such that after the substituents are added, one or more of the bidentate ligands are linked together to form, for example, a tetradentate or hexadentate ligand. Other such linkages may be formed. It is believed that this type of linking may increase stability relative to a similar compound without linking, due to what is generally understood in the art as a “chelating effect.”

Devices fabricated in accordance with embodiments of the invention may be incorporated into a wide variety of consumer products, including flat panel displays, computer monitors, televisions, billboards, lights for interior or exterior illumination and/or signaling, heads up displays, fully transparent displays, flexible displays, laser printers, telephones, cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptop computers, digital cameras, camcorders, viewfinders, micro-displays, vehicles, a large area wall, theater or stadium screen, or a sign. Various control mechanisms may be used to control devices fabricated in accordance with the present invention, including passive matrix and active matrix. Many of the devices are intended for use in a temperature range comfortable to humans, such as 18 degrees C. to 30 degrees C., and more preferably at room temperature (20-25 degrees C.).

The materials and structures described herein may have applications in devices other than OLEDs. For example, other optoelectronic devices such as organic solar cells and organic photodetectors may employ the materials and structures. More generally, organic devices, such as organic transistors, may employ the materials and structures.

The present invention is directed to a device having an organic layer comprising a carbene ligand bound to a metal center, wherein the resulting metal-carbene complex is cationic. Cationic metal complexes are desirable as they may be less reducing in the excited state. An overly reducing excited state may lead to (i) quenching by the transfer of an electron, and (ii) increased reactivity towards impurities in the device, which may negatively affect device function over time. Further, the emission from cationic carbene-metal complexes may be blue-shifted due to increased ligand field splitting.

In a preferred embodiment, the cationic metal-carbene complex is a phosphorescent emissive material, preferably a dopant. The compound may also be doped into a wide band gap host material such as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/680,066, now abandoned (published as patent application publication No. US2004/0209116 ) ,which is incorporated by reference in its entirety, or it may be doped into an inert wide band gap host such as disclosed in WO-074015, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The metal center is selected from the transition metals and is preferably selected from the second row and third row transition metals. The cationic metal-carbene complex may additionally contain ancillary ligands in order to fill the coordination sphere of the metal center. The device may contain additional emissive materials that may be phosphorescent emissive materials or fluorescent emissive materials.

In another embodiment, the cationic metal-carbene complex is a host material in an emissive layer. For example, a cationic metal-carbene complex may be used as a high energy host materials for doped blue devices. The dopant in this case could be a triplet emitter or a singlet emitter (using phosphor sensitized fluorescence). In some embodiments, the dopant is a blue or UV emissive material. In this case, the host material preferably has a wide energy gap. As used herein, the energy gap refers to the difference in the energy between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) for a particular compound. The triplet energy for a given material is related to, but less than, the energy gap. Materials for use as a wide gap host are designed to have a wide energy gap so that the host material does not quench the dopant emission by endothermic or exothermic energy transfer. The wide gap host is preferably selected so as to have a triplet energy at least about 300 mV higher than that of the dopant.

Additionally, the high band gap of metal-carbene compounds may make these materials effective in carrier blocking and transporting layers. Specifically, these materials may be used in the electron blocking layer, hole blocking layer, exciton blocking layer, hole transport layer, or electron transport layer of an OLED. In other embodiments a metal-carbene compound may be used as a hole injection layer, electron injection layer, or protective layer. It is believed that metal-carbene compounds described herein have improved thermal stability when incorporated into an organic light emitting device due to the carbene-metal bond, as compared to existing compounds without a carbene-metal bond.

As used herein, the term “carbene” refers to compounds having a divalent carbon atom with only six electrons in its valence shell when not coordinated to a metal. A useful exercise to determine whether a ligand includes a carbene-metal bond is to mentally deconstruct the complex as a metal fragment and a ligand, and to then determine whether a carbon atom in the ligand that was previously bound to the metal is a neutral divalent carbon atom in the deconstructed state. The resonance forms of a preferred embodiment may be shown as:

This definition of carbene is not limited to metal-carbene complexes synthesized from carbenes, but is rather intended to address the orbital structure and electron distribution associated with the carbon atom that is bound to the metal. The definition recognizes that the “carbene” may not technically be divalent when bound to the metal, but it would be divalent if it were detached from the metal. Although many such compounds are synthesized by first synthesizing a carbene and then binding it to a metal, the definition is intended to encompass compounds synthesized by other methods that have a similar orbital structure and electron configuration. Lowry & Richardson, Mechanism and Theory in Organic Chemistry 256 (Harper & Row, 1976) defines “carbene” in a way that is consistent with the way the term is used herein. Some references may define “carbene” as a carbon ligand that forms a double bond to a metal. While this definition is not being used in the present application, there may be some overlap between the two definitions. A variety of representations are used to depict the bonding in such carbenes, including those in which a curved line is used to indicate partial multiple bonding between the carbene carbon and the adjacent heteroatom(s).

In the figures and structures herein, a carbene-metal bond may be depicted as C→M, as for example:

Such structures that use an arrow to represent the presence of a metal-carbene bond are used interchangeably herein with structures that do not include the arrow, without any intention of suggesting there is a difference in the structure shown.

The term “organometallic” as used herein is as generally understood by one of ordinary skill in the art and as given, for example, in “Inorganic Chemistry” (2nd Edition) by Gary L. Miessler and Donald A. Tarr, Prentice-Hall (1998). Thus, the term organometallic refers to compounds which have an organic group bonded to a metal through a carbon-metal bond. This class does not include per se coordination compounds, which are substances having only donor bonds from heteroatoms, such as metal complexes of amines, halides, pseudohalides (CN, etc.), and the like. In practice organometallic compounds generally comprise, in addition to one or more carbon-metal bonds to an organic species, one or more donor bonds from a heteroatom. The carbon-metal bond to an organic species refers to a direct bond between a metal and a carbon atom of an organic group, such as phenyl, alkyl, alkenyl, etc., but does not refer to a metal bond to an “inorganic carbon,” such as the carbon of CN.

Carbene ligands are especially desirable in OLED applications due to the high thermal stability exhibited by metal-carbene complexes. It is believed that the carbene, which behaves much as an electron donative group, generally bonds strongly to the metals, thus forming a more thermally stable complex than, for example, previous cyclometallated complexes used as phosphorescent emitters. It is also believed that carbene analogs of ligands employed in existing phosphorescent emissive materials (for example the phenylpyridine or Irppy, etc.) may exhibit greater stability and emit at substantially higher energy than their existing analogs.

As used herein, a “non-carbene analog” of a metal carbene compound refers to existing ligands having a substantially similar chemical structure to the metal-carbene compound, but unlike the carbene compounds of the present invention, which features a carbene-metal bond, the analog has some other bond, such as a carbon-metal or a nitrogen-metal bond, in place of the carbene-metal bond. For example, Ir(ppz)₃ has a nitrogen in each ligand bound to the Ir. Ir(1-phenylimidazolin-2-ylidene) is analogous to Ir(ppz)₃ where the nitrogen bound to the Ir has been replaced with a carbene bound to the Ir, and where the atoms surrounding the carbene have been changed to make the carbon a carbene. Thus, embodiments of the present invention include metal-carbene complexes (e.g. Ir(1-phenylimidazolin-2-ylidene) with similar structures to existing emissive compounds (e.g. Ir(ppz)₃).

Examples of existing emissive compounds include Ir(ppy)₃ and Ir(ppz)₃, discussed above. Other examples are disclosed in the references below, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. In preferred embodiments, the carbene ligands are imidazoles, pyrazoles, benzimidazoles, and pyrroles.

It is believed that the carbene-metal bond in Ir(1-Ph-3-Me-imid)₃ is stronger than the N-metal bond in Ir(ppz)₃. Moreover, due to the nature of a carbene-metal bond, it is believed that replacing a carbon-metal bond or nitrogen-metal bond in existing emissive organometallic molecules with a carbene-metal bond (making other changes as needed to make the carbon atom a carbene) may result in an emissive molecule that is more stable than the non-carbene analog, and that has stronger spin-orbit coupling. It is further believed that the emissive spectra of the molecule including a carbene may be different from the emissive spectra of the analog without a carbene.

Metal-carbene complexes may be tuned to emit a wide variety of spectra from the near-ultraviolet across the entire visible spectra by the selection of substituents and/or chemical groups on the ligand(s). More significantly, it may now be possible to obtain saturated blue color emissions with peak wavelengths at about 450 nm. Because it is believed to be materially easier to reduce than to increase the triplet energy by tuning an emissive compound, the ability to make stable blue emitters at such high energies would also allow for the possibility of obtaining any color by reducing the energy so as to red-shift the emission.

The appropriate selection of substituents and/or chemical groups attached to carbene ligands may also minimize quantum efficiency losses associated with increasing temperatures. The observable difference in lifetime measurements between emission at room temperature and at low temperatures (e.g. 77 K) is believed to be attributed to non-radiative quenching mechanisms that compete with phosphorescent emission. Such quenching mechanisms are further believed to be thermally activated, and consequently, at cooler temperatures of about 77 K, where energy loss due to quenching is not an issue, quantum efficiency is about 100%. It is believed that appropriate substituents on the carbene ligand, or doping in a more rigid matrix, such as disclosed in Turro, “Modern Molecular Photochemistry”, University Science Books (1991), 109-10, may increase quantum efficiency at room temperature and correspondingly show longer lifetimes.

Due to the nature of the carbene-metal bond, the emission of a carbene analog may be substantially different from that of its non-carbene analog, and the emission of the carbene analog may be stable and at a higher energy than previously obtainable with stable non-carbene compounds. It is believed that devices incorporating these materials, and having optimized architecture, will have electroluminescent spectras showing high triplet energies similar to the photoluminescent spectras shown in these figures.

In some embodiments, the triplet energy of the carbene complex has a corresponding wavelength in the deep blue or ultraviolet (UV) part of the spectra. In some embodiments, the phosphorescent emissive compound has triplet energy corresponding to a wavelength of less than 450 nm. In preferred embodiments, the triplet energy corresponds to a wavelength of less than 440 nm, and in even more preferred embodiments, it corresponds to a wavelength less than 400 nm, which is believed to be in the UV region of the spectrum, since 400 nm is believed to represent the cut-off between the UV and the visible regions of the spectrum. Such high triplet energy may make these compounds useful in optically pumping down converting layers. For such applications, an overlap is preferred between the emission spectra of the ultraviolet carbene compound and the absorption spectra of the down converting layer. It is believed that when about 50% of the integral of the curve for the normalized electroluminescent spectra of the device is at a wavelength less than about 450 nm, there is sufficient energy to optically pump a down converting layer. More preferably, greater than 90% of the emission may be produced below 440 nm, as disclosed herein. Preferably, 50% of the integral of the curve for the normalized electroluminescent spectra is less than about 440 nm, and more preferably, it is less than about 400 nm. The wavelength cutoffs mentioned above are not intended to be absolute limitations as they depend on the energy of the material to be pumped. It is also believed that these emissions may occur at room temperature.

The strong metal-carbon bond is also believed to lead to greater spin-orbit coupling in metal carbene complexes. Moreover, the triplet energy of coordinated carbenes are shown to be significantly higher than pyridine analogs. FIG. 18 shows the emission spectra of mer-Ir(1-Ph-3-Me-imid)₃, which is one of the embodiments of the invention. The emission is shown to be in the near-ultraviolet range of the spectrum even at room temperature. It is believed herein that other metal carbene complexes may be capable of emitting at similarly high energies due to the strong metal-ligand bond associated with carbene ligands.

The stability of metal-carbene complexes may also allow increased versatility in the types of ligands and metals that may be used as phosphorescent emitters in OLEDs. The strong metal-carbene bond may allow a variety of metals to form useful phosphorescent complexes with carbene ligands to give novel emissive compounds. For example, one embodiment includes gold or copper bonded to a carbene ligand. Such metals have been calculated to form metal-carbon bonds having quite high bond dissociation energies, such as illustrated in Nemcsok et al., “The Significance of or π-Interactions in Group 11 Complexes with N-Heterocyclic Carbenes,” xxxx American Chemical Society, Publ. on Web, Jun. 19, 2004. Such high bond dissociation energies may be expected to improve the chemical stability of metal-carbene complexes as compared with the analogous metal-phenyl-pyridine (“metal-ppy”) based complexes that are typically used in an OLED. Thus, in addition to their use as the emissive materials in an OLED, metal-carbene complexes may be also used advantageously, because of their improved chemical stability, for other functions in an OLED, for example, as a host material in the emissive layer, as an electron or hole transporting material in an electron or hole transporting layer, and/or as an electron or hole blocking material in an electron or hole blocking layer.

Additionally, although cyclometallated complexes are preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments. The increased strength of a metal-carbene bond, as compared to other types of bonds with metal, may make monodentate ligands feasible for use as emissive materials. Until recently, bidentate ligands were strongly preferred due to stability concerns. Thus, embodiments include monodentate carbene ligands as well as bidentate. Embodiments also include tridentate carbene ligands, which may be quite stable, and many examples are found in the art, such as those disclosed in Koizumi et al., Organometallics 2003, 22, 970-975. Other embodiments may also feature a tetradentate ligand, such as porphyrin analogs in which one or more nitrogens are replaced by a carbene, which is disclosed in Bourissou et al. Chem Rev. 2000, 100, 39-91. Still other embodiments may include metallaquinone carbenes, which are compounds in which one of the oxygen atoms of a quinone has been replaced by a metal, such as those disclosed in Ashekenazi et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 8797-8798. In addition, The metal-carbene compound may be present as part of a multi-dentate group such as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/771,423 to Ma et al., now abandoned ( published as patent application publication No. US2005/0170206 ), which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

It is believed that many of the (C,C) or (C,N) ligands of many existing electroluminescent compounds may be modified to create an analogous (C,C) ligand including a carbene. Specific non limiting examples of such modification include:

-   -   (1) the substituents on the carbene-bonded branch of the         (C,C)-ligand and the substituents on the         mono-anionic-carbon-bonded branch of the (C,C)-ligand may be         independently selected from the group consisting of         -   (a) the substituents on the N-bonded branch of the existing             (C,N)-ligands, such as disclosed in the references listed             below, which is typically but not necessarily a pyridine             group; and         -   (b) the substituents on the mono-anionic-carbon-bonded             branch of the existing (C,N)-ligands, such as disclosed in             the references listed below, which is typically but not             necessarily a phenyl group;         -   (c) and/or a combination thereof; and     -   (2) the compounds including the metal-carbene bonds may further         include ancillary ligands selected from the group consisting of         the ancillary ligands such as disclosed in the following         references:         U.S. Pat. Application Publ. No. 2002-0034656 (K&K 10020/15303),         FIGS. 11-50, U.S. Pat. Application Publ. No. 2003-0072964         (Thompson et al.), paragraphs 7-132; and FIGS. 1-8; U.S. Pat.         Application Publ. No. 2002-0182441 (Lamansky et al.), paragraphs         13-165, including FIGS. 1-9(g); U.S. Pat. No. 6,420,057 B1 (Ueda         et al.), col. 1, line 57, through col. 88, line 17, including         each compound I-1 through XXIV-12; U.S. Pat. No. 6,383,666 B1         (Kim et al.), col. 2, line 9, through col. 21, lin3 67; U.S.         Pat. Application Publ. No. 2001-0015432 A1 (Igarashi et al.),         paragraphs 2-57, including compounds (1-1) through (1-30); U.S.         Pat. Application Publ. No. 2001-0019782 A1 (Igarashi et al.),         paragraphs 13-126, including compounds (1-1) through (1-70), and         (2-1) through (2-20); U.S. Pat. Application Publ. No.         2002-0024293 (Igarashi et al.), paragraphs 7-95, including         general formulas K-I through K-VI, and example compounds (K-1)         through (K-25); U.S. Pat. Application Publ. No. 2002-0048689 A1         (Igarashi et al.), paragraphs 5-134, including compounds 1-81,         and example compounds (1-1) through (1-81); U.S. Pat.         Application Publ. No. 2002-0063516 (Tsuboyama et al.),         paragraphs 31-161, including each compound 1-16; U.S. Pat.         Application Publ. No. 2003-0068536 (Tsuboyama et al.),         paragraphs 31-168, including each compound in Tables 1-17,         corresponds to EP-1-239-526-A2; U.S. Pat. Application Publ. No.         2003-0091862 (Tokito et al.), paragraphs 10-190, including each         compound in Tables 1-17, corresponds to EP-1-239-526-A2; U.S.         Pat. Application Publ. No. 2003-0096138 (Lecloux et al.),         paragraphs 8-124, including FIGS. 1-5; U.S. Pat. Application         Publ. No. 2002-0190250 (Grushin et al.), paragraphs 9-191; U.S.         Pat. Application Publ. No. 2002-0121638 (Grushin et al.),         paragraphs 8-125; U.S. Pat. Application Publ. No. 2003-0068526         (Kamatani et al.), paragraphs 33-572, including each compound in         Tables 1-23; U.S. Pat. Application Publ. No. 2003-0141809         (Furugori et al.), paragraphs 29-207; U.S. Pat. Application         Publ. No. 2003-0162299 A1 (Hsieh et al.), paragraphs 8-42; WO         03/084972, (Stossel et al.), Examples 1-33; WO 02/02714 A2         ((Petrov et al.), pages 2-30, including each compound in Tables         1-5; EP 1-191-613 A1 (Takiguchi et al.), paragraphs 26-87,         including each compound in Tables 1-8, (corresponding to U.S.         Pat. Application Publ. No. 2002-0064681); and EP 1-191-614 A2         (Tsuboyama et al.), paragraphs 25-86, including each compound in         Tables 1-7; which are incorporated herein by reference in their         entirety.

Carbene ligands may be synthesized using methods known in the art, such as those disclosed in Cattoën, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2004, 126; 1342-1343; Chiu-Yuen Wong, et al, Organometallics 2004, 23, 2263-2272; Klapars, et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2001, 123; 7727-7729; Bourissou et al. Chem Rev. 2000, 100,39-91; Siu-Wai Lai, et al, Organometallics 1999, 18, 3327-3336; Wen-Mei Xue et al., Organometallics 1998, 17, 1622-1630; Wang & Lin, Organometallics 1998, 17, 972-975; Cardin, et al., Chem Rev. 1972, 5, 545-574; and other references discussed herein.

In one embodiment, a the carbene ligand has the following formula:

wherein Z¹ and Z² may be a carbon containing moiety, an amine containing moiety, oxygen containing moiety, a phosphine containing moiety, and a sulfur containing moiety.

In another embodiment, the cationic metal-carbene complex has the structure:

in which the carbene ligands have the structure:

in which

-   M is a metal; -   the dotted lines represent optional double bonds; -   each Z₁, A, and A′ is independently selected from C, N, O, P, or S; -   R¹, R², and R³ are independently selected from H, alkyl, aryl or     heteroaryl; and additionally or alternatively, one or more of R¹ and     R² and R² and R³ together from independently a 5 or 6-member cyclic     group, wherein said cyclic group is cycloalkyl, cycloheteroalkyl,     aryl or heteroaryl; and wherein said cyclic group is optionally     substituted by one or more substituents J; each substituent J is     independently selected from the group consisting of R′, O—R′,     N(R′)₂, SR′, C(O)R′, C(O)OR′, C(O)NR′₂, CN, NO₂, SO₂, SOR′, or     SO₃R′, and additionally, or alternatively, two J groups on adjacent     ring atoms form a fused 5- or 6-membered aromatic group; each R′ is     independently selected from H, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, heteroalkyl,     aralkyl, aryl and heteroaryl; (X-Y) is selected from a photoactive     ligand or an ancilliary ligand, -   a is 0, 1, or 2. -   m is a value from 1 to the maximum number of ligands that may be     attached to the metal; -   m+n is the maximum number of ligands that may be attached to metal     M; and     the cationic metal-carbene complex has a positive charge.

The cationic metal-carbene complex will have as positive charge ranging from 1⁺ to 6⁺, and preferably from 1⁺ to 3⁺. The cationic metal-carbene complex will be associated with a counterion to balance the charge. The counterion may be selected from any appropriate anion which does not interfere with the function of the compound in the device, for example, as an emissive material. The anion is selected to be electrochemically inert over the operational voltage range of the device. Preferred counteranions are typically weakly coordinating anions. The term “weakly coordinating anion” is well known in the art per se and generally refers to a large bulky anion capable of delocalization of the negative change of the anion. Suitable weakly coordinating anions, not all of which would be considered bulky, include, but are not limited to: PF₆ ⁻, BF₄ ⁻, SbCl₆ ⁻, trifluoromethansulfonate, BAr₄ ⁻ (Ar=C₆F₅), BAr′₄ ⁻ (Ar′=3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl, and the like. The weakly coordinating nature of such anions is known to those skilled in the art and described in the literature (S. Strauss et al., Chem. Rev., 1993, 93, 927).

As the metal-carbene complexes of the present invention are cationic, the metal center, the carbene ligand(s), the optional ancillary ligand(s), and the optional additional photoactive ligand(s) are selected in combination so that the resulting metal complex has a positive charge.

In preferred embodiments, the cationic metal-carbene complex will be an emissive material. In a further preferred embodiment, the cationic metal-carbene complex will further comprise one or more carbon-metal bonds that are not carbene-metal bonds (i.e., a covalent carbon-metal bond). Particularly preferred is a phenyl bonded to the metal center, as it is believed that this type of bonding promotes relaxation, which may result in better emissive properties. Thus, in a preferred embodiment, the cationic metal-carbene complex will have at least one carbon-metal bond that is a carbene-metal bond and at least one carbon-metal bond that is a non-carbene carbon-metal bond, and preferably is a phenyl-metal bond.

In a preferred embodiment, the emissive cationic metal-carbene complex emits in the blue region of the visible spectrum. The emissive cationic metal-carbene complex will preferably have an emission spectra with the λ_(max) less than about 500 nm, and more preferable less than about 450 nm. In another preferred embodiment, the device comprising the cationic metal-carbene complex will emit light having CIE coordinates wherein the X-coordinate is from about 0.10 to about 0.15, and the Y-coordinate in from about 0.10 to about 0.20.

The term “halo” or “halogen” as used herein includes fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine.

The term “alkyl” as used herein contemplates both straight and branched chain alkyl radicals. Preferred alkyl groups are those containing from one to fifteen carbon atoms and includes methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, tert-butyl, and the like. Additionally, the alkyl group may be optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from halo, CN, CO₂R, C(O)R, NR₂, cyclic-amino, NO₂, and OR, wherein each R is independently selected from H, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aralkyl, aryl and heteroaryl.

The term “cycloalkyl” as used herein contemplates cyclic alkyl radicals. Preferred cycloalkyl groups are those containing 3 to 7 carbon atoms and includes cyclopropyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, and the like. Additionally, the cycloalkyl group may be optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from halo, CN, CO₂R, C(O)R, NR₂, cyclic-amino, NO₂, and OR.

The term “alkenyl” as used herein contemplates both straight and branched chain alkene radicals. Preferred alkenyl groups are those containing two to fifteen carbon atoms. Additionally, the alkenyl group may be optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from halo, CN, CO₂R, C(O)R, NR₂, cyclic-amino, NO₂, and OR.

The term “alkynyl” as used herein contemplates both straight and branched chain alkyne radicals. Preferred alkyl groups are those containing two to fifteen carbon atoms. Additionally, the alkynyl group may be optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from halo, CN, CO₂R, C(O)R, NR₂, cyclic-amino, NO₂, and OR.

The terms “aralkyl” as used herein contemplates an alkyl group that has as a substituent an aromatic group. Additionally, the aralkyl group may be optionally substituted on the aryl with one or more substituents selected from halo, CN, CO₂R, C(O)R, NR₂, cyclic-amino, NO₂, and OR.

The term “heterocyclic group” as used herein contemplates non-aromatic cyclic radicals. Preferred heterocyclic groups are those containing 3 or 7 ring atoms which includes at least one hetero atom, and includes cyclic amines such as morpholino, piperdino, pyrrolidino, and the like, and cyclic ethers, such as tetrahydrofuran, tetrahydropyran, and the like. Additionally, the heterocyclic group may be optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from halo, CN, CO₂R, C(O)R, NR₂, cyclic-amino, NO₂, and OR.

The term “aryl” or “aromatic group” as used herein contemplates single-ring groups and polycyclic ring systems. The polycyclic rings may have two or more rings in which two carbons are common by two adjoining rings (the rings are “fused”) wherein at least one of the rings is aromatic, e.g., the other rings can be cycloalkyls, cycloalkenyls, aryl, heterocycles and/or heteroaryls. Additionally, the aryl group may be optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from halo, CN, CO₂R, C(O)R, NR₂, cyclic-amino, NO₂, and OR.

The term “heteroaryl” as used herein contemplates single-ring hetero-aromatic groups that may include from one to three heteroatoms, for example, pyrrole, furan, thiophene, imidazole, oxazole, thiazole, triazole, pyrazole, pyridine, pyrazine and pyrimidine, and the like. The term heteroaryl also includes polycyclic hetero-aromatic systems having two or more rings in which two atoms are common to two adjoining rings (the rings are “fused”) wherein at least one of the rings is a heteroaryl, e.g., the other rings can be cycloalkyls, cycloalkenyls, aryl, heterocycles and/or heteroaryls. Additionally, the heteroaryl group may be optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from halo, CN, CO₂R, C(O)R, NR₂, cyclic-amino, NO₂, and OR.

All value ranges, for example those given for n and m, are inclusive over the entire range. Thus, for example, a range between 0-4 would include the values 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Embodiments include photoactive carbene ligands. A ligand is referred to as “photoactive” because it is believed that it contributes to the photoactive properties of the emissive material. m represents the number of photoactive ligands. For example, for Ir, m may be 1, 2 or 3. n, the number of “ancillary” ligands of a particular type, may be any integer from zero to one less than the maximum number of ligands that may be attached to the metal. (X-Y) represents an ancillary ligand. These ligands are referred to as “ancillary” because it is believed that they may modify the photoactive properties of the molecule, as opposed to directly contributing to the photoactive properties. The definitions of photoactive and ancillary are intended as non-limiting theories. For example, for Ir, n may be 0, 1 or 2 for bidentate ligands. Ancillary ligands for use in the emissive material may be selected from those known in the art. Non-limiting examples of ancillary ligands may be found in PCT Application Publication WO 02/15645 A1 to Lamansky et al. at pages 89-90, which is incorporated herein by reference.

The metal forming the metal-carbene bond may be selected from a wide range of metals. Preferred metals include main group metals, 1^(st) row transition metals, 2^(nd) row transition metals, 3^(rd) row transition metals, and lanthanides. Although one skilled in the art typically expects room temperature phosphorescence only from metal atoms that exert a strong heavy atom effect, phosphorescent emission has been observed in Kunkley, et al. J. Organometallic Chem. 2003, 684, 113-116 for a compound with a Nickel (Ni) metal, which is typically not expected to exert a strong heavy atom effect. Thus, embodiments also include first row transition metal, such as Ni, and other metals that do not normally exert a strong heavy atom effect but exhibits phosphorescent emission when coordinated to one or more carbene ligands. More preferred metals include 3^(rd) row transition metals. The following are also preferred metals: Ir, Pt, Pd, Rh, Re, Ru, Os, Tl, Pb, Bi, In, Sn, Sb, Te, Au, and Ag. Most preferably, the metal is Iridium.

The most preferred embodiments are N-heterocyclic carbenes, which Bourissou has also reported as having “remarkable stability” as free compounds in Bourissou et al. Chem Rev. 2000, 100, 39-91.

In one embodiment, the metal-carbene compound has the structure

and a ligand with the structure

in which R₄ is either an aromatic or an amine group; and R³ and R⁴ together from independently a 5 or 6-member cyclic group, which may be cycloalkyl, cycloheteroalkyl, aryl or heteroaryl, and which may optionally be substituted by one or more substituents J.

In other embodiments, the metal-carbene compound may have one of the following structures

in which the ligand has the corresponding structure selected from:

in which R⁵ and R⁶ may be alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aralkyl, R′, O—R′, N(R′)₂, SR′, C(O)R′, C(O)OR′, C(O)NR′₂, CN, CF₃, NO₂, SO₂, SOR′, or SO₃R′ halo, aryl and heteroaryl; and each R′ is independently selected from H, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, heteroalkyl, aralkyl, aryl and heteroaryl; and additionally or alternatively, one or more of R¹ and R², R² and R³, R³ and R⁵, and R⁵ and R⁶ together form independently a 5 or 6-member cyclic group, wherein said cyclic group is cycloalkyl, cycloheteroalkyl, aryl or heteroaryl; and wherein said cyclic group is optionally substituted by one or more substituents J.

In another embodiment the metal carbene compound has the structure:

and the carbene ligand has the structure

in which R⁸, R⁹, R¹⁰, and R¹¹ may be alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aralkyl, R′, O—R′, N(R′)₂, SR′, C(O)R′, C(O)OR′, C(O)NR′₂, CN, CF₃, NO₂, SO₂, SOR′, or SO₃R′ halo, aryl and heteroaryl; each R′ is independently selected from H, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, heteroalkyl, aralkyl, aryl and heteroaryl; and additionally or alternatively, one or more of R¹ and R², R² and R⁸, R⁸ and R¹⁰, and R⁶ and R¹⁰ together form independently a 5 or 6-member cyclic group, wherein said cyclic group is cycloalkyl, cycloheteroalkyl, aryl or heteroaryl; and wherein said cyclic group is optionally substituted by one or more substituents J.

In another embodiment, the carbene-metal compound may have one of the structures below:

in which the ligand has the structure selected from

in which each R₁₂ may be an alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aralkyl, R′, O—R′, N(R′)₂, SR′, C(O)R′, C(O)OR′, C(O)NR₁₂, CN, CF₃, NO₂, SO₂, SOR′, or SO₃R′ halo, aryl and heteroaryl; each R′ is independently selected from H, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, heteroalkyl, aralkyl, aryl and heteroaryl; or alternatively, two R₁₂ groups on adjacent ring atoms may form a fused 5- or 6-membered cyclic group, wherein said cyclic group is cycloalkyl, cycloheteroalkyl, aryl or heteroaryl; and wherein said cyclic group is optionally substituted by one or more substituents J; and d is 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4.

Another embodiment has a metal-carbene structure:

with a ligand having the structure

in which each R₁₃ may be an alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aralkyl, R′, O—R′, N(R′)₂, SR′, C(O)R′, C(O)OR′, C(O)NR₁₂, CN, CF₃, NO₂, SO₂, SOR′, or SO₃R′ halo, aryl and heteroaryl; each R′ is independently selected from H, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, heteroalkyl, aralkyl, aryl and heteroaryl; or alternatively, two R₁₃ groups on adjacent ring atoms may form a fused 5- or 6-membered cyclic group, in which the cyclic group is cycloalkyl, cycloheteroalkyl, aryl or heteroaryl; and which is optionally substituted by one or more substituents J; and c may be 0, 1, 2, or 3.

Preferred embodiments include metal-carbene compounds having the structure selected from:

with corresponding ligands having the structures selected from

in which Z³ may be O, S, N—R⁶, or P—R⁶; and ring B is independently an aromatic cyclic, heterocyclic, fused cyclic, or fused heterocyclic ring with at least one carbon atom coordinated to metal M, in which ring B may be optionally substituted with one or more substituents R₁₄; and ring D is independently a cyclic, heterocyclic, fused cyclic, or fused heterocyclic ring with at least one carbon atom coordinated to metal M, in which ring B may be optionally substituted with one or more substituents R₁₅; and R₁₄ and R₁₅ are independently selected from alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aralkyl, R′, O—R′, N(R′)₂, SR′, C(O)R′, C(O)OR′, C(O)NR₁₂, CN, CF₃, NO₂, SO₂, SOR′, or SO₃R′ halo, aryl and heteroaryl; each R′ is independently selected from H, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, heteroalkyl, aralkyl, aryl and heteroaryl; or alternatively, two R₁₄ groups on adjacent ring atoms and R₁₅ groups on adjacent ring atoms form a fused 5- or 6-membered cyclic group, in which the cyclic group is cycloalkyl, cycloheteroalkyl, aryl or heteroaryl; and which is optionally substituted by one or more substituents J; b may be 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4; and e may be 0, 1, 2, or 3.

In one embodiment the metal-carbene compound has the structure:

in which the ligand has the structure

Preferably, the compound has the structure:

and the ligand has the structure:

More preferably the metal-carbene has a structure selected from:

and the ligand from

Another preferred embodiment has the structure:

in which the ligand has the structure

in which R₆ is an alkyl or aryl group. In a most preferred embodiment, the metal is Ir.

Preferably, m is 3 and n is 0. In one embodiment, R₆ is methyl. In another embodiment m is 2 and n is one. The ancillary ligand X-Y may have one of the following structures:

wherein R may be H or alkyl. Other preferred ancillary ligands are acetylacetonate, picolinate, and their derivatives.

Other preferred embodiments have the following general structures:

in which the ligands have the structure

More preferred embodiments have the following structures:

Preferred carbene ligands have the following corresponding structures

Other embodiments may have the general structure:

and the ligands may have the corresponding structure

Preferably, the metal-carbene compound has the structure:

and the carbene ligand has the structure

Other preferred embodiments include:

in which the ligands have the structure:

Other embodiments also include compounds having ancillary carbene ligands.

In other embodiments, the carbene ligand may be substituted to affect charge transport. For example, a triarylamine (TAA), which has been used as a hole transport material, may be a substituent, as shown in the partial structure below:

This type of substitution may also be designed to trap charges to control recombination in the emissive layer, which may lead to more stable and efficient devices.

Other embodiments include:

Table 38 lists partial structures of carbene compounds (“A” part of the ligand), which in combination with the partial structures listed in Table 39 (“B” part of the ligand) make up additional embodiments. Specifically, representative embodiments include compounds having the core chemical structure of AxBy, wherein x is an integer from 1 to 47, preferably 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 18, 19, 20, 33, or 35, and y is an integer from 1 to 86, preferably 1, 4, 10, 12, 55, 56, 59, 61, 62, 65, 66, 69, 70, 71, or 72. Preferably, the Ra1 substituent is an alkyl, an un-substituted aryl group, or an aryl group substituted with one or more electron donor groups, such as alkylamine, alkoxy, alkyl, or thiol groups, or electron acceptor groups, such as carboxylate, carbonyl, cyano, sulfoxide, sulfone, nitro, or phenyl groups, and the remaining Ra-substituents and Rb-substituents may be H, an alkyl group, an un-substituted aryl group, or an aryl group substituted with one or more electron donor or electron acceptor groups. Specific representative embodiments are shown in Tables 1-37, wherein the carbon and nitrogen positions are numbered for the convenient use of these tables. Some preferred embodiments are shown in Table 41. Other embodiments are shown in Table 40.

Preferred “B” parts of the carbene ligand include triphenylenes, e.g., B29 and B46, fluorenes, e.g., B55-B60, and carbazoles, e.g., B61-B66, which are believed to have high triplet energies and may be potential blue phosphors. In addition, it is well known in the art that carbazole is a stable host and is used in hole transport layers in OLEDs. Other “B” parts of the carbene ligand may be useful as red or green emitters or charge transporters. When a heteroatom not bound to the metal is present in the A or B ring, it is preferred that the heteroatom-carbon bonds are single bonds (e.g., B67, B70, B73, B76, and B79) rather than double bonds because it is believed that the heteroatom-carbon double bonds may be more susceptible to nucleophilic attacks which may lead to reduced device stability.

It is also believed that nitrogen containing heterocyclic rings with no formal double bonds to the nitrogen, e.g., B67, B70, B73, B76, and B79 lead to better device stability.

Each specific individual compound may be represented as “AxBy-z1-z2,” wherein z1-z2 is the compound number (“Cpd No.”) as shown in the tables. For the z1-z2 component, the prefix z1 corresponds to the table number and the suffix z2 corresponds to the line number of that table, thus specifically identifying the individual compound. For example, for the core chemical structure of A1B1, which has two carbon atoms available for substitution on the “A” part of the ligand and four available carbon atoms on the “B” part of the ligand, Table 2 is used, since it lists specific embodiments for a structure having two available carbon atoms on the “A” part of the ligand and four available carbon atoms on the “B” part of the ligand. Thus, for the compound having the identifying number “A1B1-2-1,” Ra1 is methyl and Ra2, Ra3, Rb1, Rb2, Rb3 and Rb4 are each H; for “A1B1-2-2,” Ra1 and Rb1 are each methyl and Ra2, Ra3, Rb2, Rb3 and Rb4 are each H; and for “A1B1-2-3,” Ra1 and Rb2 are each methyl and Ra2, Ra3, Rb1, Rb3 and Rb4 are each H.

For AxBy complexes wherein m=3, there are known to be two stereo-isomers, one that is typically referred to as the “mer” isomer and the other as the “fac” isomer. Thus, using the compound identifying terminology, as defined herein, the mixture of both isomers is identified as “AxBy-z1-z2,” whereas the “mer” isomer is identified as “mer-AxBy-z1-z2,” and the “fac” isomer, as “fac-AxBy-z1-z2.” As would be understood by one skilled in the art, steric considerations may either limit or favor the synthesis of particular embodiments. For example, having large bulky groups on adjacent positions could hinder the synthesis of certain compounds. Alternatively, there may be particular groups that improve ease of synthesis, solubility, sublimation temperature, and/or thermal stability of certain compounds. For example, for each of the embodiments having a ligand with a fluorene group, such as the B55, B56 or B59 groups, or a carbazole group, such as the B61, B62, B65 or B66 groups, the methyl groups that are on the methylene carbon of fluorene groups, for example, the R7 and R8 positions on B55, or on the N-atom of the carbazole group, for example, the R7 position of B61, the methyl groups that are shown in the tables at these positions may instead readily be phenyl groups that form highly stable compounds.

Any one of the preceding specific representative embodiments may be selected so as to achieve particular desired device characteristics, for example, emission color, stability, HOMO and/or LUMO energy levels, and/or electron or hole trapping properties of the material. In addition, any one of the preceding specific representative embodiments may be further substituted, for example, with additional electron donor or electron acceptor groups, so as to further adjust certain device properties, such as emission color or stability. For example, any one of the compounds referred to in Tables 1-37 may include one or more additional methyl or phenyl groups, and/or the methyl and/or phenyl groups may be replaced with other aryl or alkyl groups such as ethyl or t-butyl. In addition, one or more of the AxBy ligands of the tris-iridium compound may be replaced with an ancillary “X-Y” ligand, also so as to further adjust the specific device properties, such as emission color or stability. The ancillary “X-Y” ligand may be one or more ligands selected from the group consisting of mono-dentate, bi-dentate, tri-dentate or tetra-dentate ligands. The ancillary ligand may be another organometallic ligand, such as another carbene ligand, or a non-organometallic ligand, such as acetoacetonate and others previously mentioned. Moreover, the iridium atom of any one of the preceding specific representative embodiments may be replaced with another metal atom so as to further adjust particular device properties, such as emission color or stability. The metal atom, other than Ir, may be any 3 row transition metals, preferably Pt, Pd, Rh, Re, Ru, Os, Tl, Pb, Bi, In, Sn, Sb, Te, Au, or Ag, more preferably, Pt, Rh, Re, Au, Os, or Ru, and most preferably, Pt.

In addition, any one of the specific representative embodiments may be selected, as listed, or as further modified, so that the materials may be used as an ETL, an HTL, a hole blocking layer, an electron blocking layer, or an exciton blocking layer. In such cases, the compounds may be selected, and/or modified, so as to improve the electron and/or hole conductivity of the material.

The carbene-carbon atom that is bound to the metal atom may in some cases be conjugated with a quaternized N-alkyl unit, which in combination with the carbene-carbon atom may be drawn as a valid zwitter-ion resonance structure, with the carbene-carbon atom and the quaternized nitrogen atom being part of a heterocyclic aromatic ring, such as described in Take-aki Koizumi et al., “Terpyridine-Analogous (N,N,C)-Tridentate Ligands; Synthesis, Structures, and Electrochemical Properties of Ruthenium (II) Complexes Bearing Tridentate Pyridinium and Pyridinylidene Ligands,” Organometallics, Vol 22, pp. 970-975 (2003), wherein the nitrogen atom is, for example, in the para position relative to the carbene-carbon atom. Thus, insofar as a carbene may be properly characterized as having a valid zwitter-ion resonance structure, such a ligand is represented, for example, by the ligands that include the B19 unit as part of the ligand.

A common feature of many of the preferred representative embodiments that are specifically disclosed herein is that they have as a core part of their chemical structure a cyclometallated, five-member, ring, which includes a metal atom bound to two carbon atoms within the ring, wherein one of the metal-carbon bonds is a metal-carbene bond and the other is a metal-mono-anionic carbon bond. Such structures are analogous to the metal-ppy-based complexes that are typically used in phosphorescent OLEDs. Such metal-ppy-based chemical structures also have a cyclometallated, five-member, ring as a core part of their chemical structure, except that the metal is bound to a single carbon atom, via a metal-mono-anionic carbon bond, and to a nitrogen atom instead of a carbene carbon. Because of the close structural analogy between the carbene-based complexes disclosed herein and metal-ppy-based complexes, it is believed herein that selection of the specifically preferred AxBy complexes may be based on considerations similar to those used to selected the preferred metal-ppy-based complexes. For example, since iridium and platinum are the most commonly preferred metals of the phosphorescent metal-ppy-based complexes, due to the very high spin-orbit coupling between the metal atom and the carbon atom, these same two metals are the most preferred metals for use in combination with the carbene-based ligands, but with iridium being more highly preferred. Similarly, it is believed that the methods and materials that have proven useful for achieving the desired characteristics for metal-ppy-based complexes, such as emission color, thermal stability, ease of chemical synthesis, solubility, sublimation temperature, HOMO and LUMO energy levels, and/or reduction of the room temperature losses in quantum efficiency due to quenching of the phosphorescence that may be observed at 77K, may also be applied to selecting the preferred metal-carbene complexes. Notwithstanding the prevalence of five-membered ring metal chelate structures among the preferred embodiments, it is expected that certain six-membered ring metal chelate structures will also be useful in the context of this invention, especially those which are part of relatively rigid tridentate or macrocyclic ligands. Several non-limiting examples of such structures are also given herein.

It is also believed that the presence of the metal-carbene bond, with its unique chemical characteristics, will lead to further particular benefits and advantages that are unique to metal-carbene complexes, and that may not be readily predicted based on their metal-ppy-based analogues.

TABLE 38 “A” part of ligand A1

A2

A3

A4

A5

A6

A7

A8

A9

A10

A11

A12

A13

A14

A15

A16

A17

A18

A19

A20

A21

A22

A23

A24

A25

A26

A27

A28

A29

A30

A31

A32

A33

A34

A35

A36

A37

A38

A39

A40

A41

A42

A43

A44

A45

A46

A47

TABLE 39 “B” part of ligand B1

B2

B3

B4

B5

B6

B7

B8

B9

B10

B11

B12

B13

B14

B15

B16

B17

B18

B19

B20

B21

B22

B23

B24

B25

B26

B27

B28

B29

B30

B31

B32

B33

B34

B35

B36

B37

B38

B39

B40

B41

B42

B43

B44

B45

B46

B47

B48

B49

B50

B51

B52

B53

B54

B55

B56

B57

B58

B59

B60

B61

B62

B63

B64

B65

B66

B67

B68

B69

B70

B71

B72

B73

B74

B75

B76

B77

B78

B79

B80

B81

B82

B83

B84

B85

B86

TABLE 40 “C” Ligands C1

C2

C3

TABLE 41 Preferred compounds A1B1

A1B4

A1B10

A1B12

A1B55

A1B56

A1B59

A1B61

A1B62

A1B65

A1B66

A1B69

A1B70

A1B71

A1B72

A2B1

A2B4

A2B10

A2B12

A2B55

A2B56

A2B59

A2B61

A2B62

A2B65

A2B66

A2B69

A2B70

A2B71

A2B72

A5B1

A5B4

A5B10

A5B12

A5B55

A5B56

A5B59

A5B61

A5B62

A5B65

A5B66

A5B69

A5B70

A5B71

A5B72

A6B1

A6B4

A6B10

A6B12

A6B55

A6B56

A6B59

A6B61

A6B62

A6B65

A6B66

A6B69

A6B70

A6B71

A6B72

A7B1

A7B4

A7B10

A7B12

A7B55

A7B56

A7B59

A7B61

A7B62

A7B65

A7B66

A7B69

A7B70

A7B71

A7B72

A18B1

A18B4

A18B10

A18B12

A18B55

A18B56

A18B59

A18B61

A18B62

A18B65

A18B66

A18B69

A18B70

A18B71

A18B72

A19B1

A19B4

A19B10

A19B12

A19B55

A19B56

A19B59

A19B61

A19B62

A19B65

A19B66

A19B69

A19B70

A19B71

A19B72

A20B1

A20B4

A20B10

A20B12

A20B55

A20B56

A20B59

A20B61

A20B62

A20B65

A20B66

A20B69

A20B70

A20B71

A20B72

A33B1

A33B4

A33B10

A33B12

A33B55

A33B56

A33B59

A33B61

A33B62

A33B65

A33B66

A33B69

A33B70

A33B71

A33B72

A35B1

A35B4

A35B10

A35B12

A35B55

A35B56

A35B59

A35B61

A35B62

A35B65

A35B66

A35B69

A35B70

A35B71

A35B72

As the present invention is directed to cationic metal-carbene complexes, each of the above identified embodiments will have associated therewith (i) a positive charge, and (ii) an anionic species to provide charge balance. While the structures shown herein do not in many cases have an explicit charge indicated, it is to be understood that the ligands and metals are selected so as to give an overall positive charge for the complex. For example, two monoanionic bidentate carbene ligands plus a third neutral XY ligand chelated to a metal with a +3 oxidation state will result in a positively charged complex. An example of this is shown below where two carbene ligands and one bypyridine ligand chelated to an Ir(III) metal give a complex with an overall charge of +1:

The carbene ligands of the cationic metal-carbene complexes of the present invention are preferably multidentate. Thus, in preferred embodiments the carbene ligand has two to six bonds to the metal center, at least one of which is a carbene-metal bond. The carbene ligands discussed above, for example in tables 38-41, may be linked by linking groups to other carbene ligands or to ancillary ligands to give tridetate, tetradentate or hexadentate ligand systems. Suitable linking groups include, for example, lower alkyl groups, ethers, alkyl-aryl-alkyl, each of which may be substituted. Additional linking groups are taught in U.S. application Ser. No. 10/771,423, filed Feb. 3, 2004, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Suitable tridentate ligands are taught in co-pending application 11/032,950 , which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Suitable tetradentate ligands are taught in co-pending application 11/031,078 , which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The cationic metal-carbene complexes of the present invention will generally be unsuitable for deposition using vapor deposition methods such as sublimation. Rather, the cationic metal-carbene complexes are preferably deposited using solution-based processing, such as spin coating and ink-jet printing.

Exemplary cationic carbene complexes according to the present invention are shown below:

It is understood that the various embodiments described herein are by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. For example, many of the materials and structures described herein may be substituted with other materials and structures without deviating from the spirit of the invention. It is understood that various theories as to why the invention works are not intended to be limiting. For example, theories relating to charge transfer are not intended to be limiting.

Material Definitions:

As used herein, abbreviations refer to materials as follows:

-   CBP: 4,4′-N,N-dicarbazole-biphenyl -   m-MTDATA 4,4′,4″-tris(3-methylphenylphenlyamino)triphenylamine -   Alq₃: 8-tris-hydroxyquinoline aluminum -   Bphen: 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline -   n-BPhen: n-doped BPhen (doped with lithium) -   F₄-TCNQ: tetrafluoro-tetracyano-quinodimethane -   p-MTDATA: p-doped m-MTDATA (doped with F₄-TCNQ) -   Ir(ppy)₃: tris(2-phenylpyridine)-iridium -   Ir(ppz)₃: tris(1-phenylpyrazoloto,N,C(2′)iridium(III) -   BCP: 2,9-dimethyl-4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline -   TAZ: 3-phenyl-4-(1′-naphthyl)-5-phenyl-1,2,4-triazole -   CuPc: copper phthalocyanine. -   ITO: indium tin oxide -   NPD: N,N′-diphenyl-N—N′-di(1-naphthyl)-benzidine -   TPD: N,N′-diphenyl-N—N′-di(3-toly)-benzidine -   BAlq:     aluminum(III)bis(2-methyl-8-hydroxyquinolinato)₄-phenylphenolate -   mCP: 1,3-N,N-dicarbazole-benzene -   DCM: 4-(dicyanoethylene)-6-(4-dimethylaminostyryl-2-methyl)-4H-pyran -   DMQA: N,N′-dimethylquinacridone -   PEDOT:PSS: an aqueous dispersion of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)     with polystyrenesulfonate (PSS) -   UGH 1,3-bis(triphenylsilyl)benzene -   1-Ph-3-Me-imid 1-phenyl-3-methyl-imidazolin-2-ylidene-C,C^(2′)

While the present invention is described with respect to particular examples and preferred embodiments, it is understood that the present invention is not limited to these examples and embodiments. The present invention as claimed therefore includes variations from the particular examples and preferred embodiments described herein, as will be apparent to one of skill in the art. 

1. An organic light emitting device, comprising: an anode; a cathode; and an emissive region disposed between the anode and the cathode, wherein the emissive region comprises an emissive complex that comprises one or more carbene ligands coordinated to a metal center, wherein the complex is cationic, and an anion that provides charge balance.
 2. The organic light emitting device of claim 1, wherein the metal center is selected from Re, Ru, Os, Rh, Ir, Pd, Pt, or Au.
 3. The organic light emitting device of claim 2, wherein the emissive complex further comprises one or more carbon-metal bonds to the metal center wherein the further carbon-metal bonds are non-carbene-metal bonds.
 4. The organic light emitting device of claim 3, wherein the one or more non-carbene carbon-metal bonds are phenyl-metal bonds.
 5. The organic light emitting device of claim 2, wherein the device emits with a λ_(max) less than about 500 nm.
 6. The organic light emitting device of claim 5, wherein the device emits with a λ_(max) less than about 450 nm.
 7. The organic light emitting device of claim 2, wherein the device emits light having CIE coordinates wherein the X-coordinate is from about 0.10 to about 0.15, and the Y-coordinate in from about 0.10 to about 0.20.
 8. The organic light emitting device of claim 2, wherein the complex has a structure selected from: 